red cent - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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Probably from the color of the copper from which the coin was minted. Prior to 1909, a brighter nickel-based cent was used, often called the white cent. It is also possible that the red originally referred to the obverse bearing an Indian head stamp. See Indian Head cent.
- (US) A copper penny.
- (US, colloquial, chiefly in the negative) A very small amount of money.
- I wouldn't pay one red cent for a ticket.
- 1867, Augustin Daly, Under the Gaslight, Act III, Scene 2, page 28:
- Snorkey. But I ain't got two cents. What's a fellow to do if he hasn't got a red?
1989 December 10, John Zeh, quoting Tony Allen, “AIDS Groups' Execs Arrested In D.C.”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 22, page 1:
Day by day for two-and-a-half years, I've seen resources diminishing, disappearing. We're begging, damn near down on our knees, and not getting one red cent.
2011, Jann Arden, Falling Backwards: A Memoir, page 158:
My dad said he wasn't going to pay the bastards ten red cents.